Audi RS-7: A four-door isn’t supposed to be this quick

Four big doors always opened wide to slow rides in the 1960s.Twenty-foot-long Bonnevilles and Galaxies and Deuce-and-a-Quarter Buicks leisurely lugged everything from screaming kids to scheming bankers...

Gigantic oval black-tipped exhausts in back spoke with a muted rumble up to about 3,000 rpm, when the loud stick came out.

What was kind of surprising was the relative civility of the bad-boy RS, despite a massively tweaked engine that produced more than 2 horsepower per cubic inch.

In heavy traffic, the RS-7 responded pretty politely to light nudges on the accelerator, stepping out with the sort of silky vigor you’d anticipate in any large luxury sedan.

But at about 2,500 rpm in “sport” mode, the exhaust note got flat and insistent as the forces inside the big sedan began to build rapidly.

At 3,500, you step from a pleasant party into a hurricane of horsepower and torque, and it lasts past 6,000 rpm.

Think I’m exaggerating again? The 4,500-pound RS-7 can blast to 60 with all four wheels scratching for traction in a scant 3.7 seconds, according to Audi.

And that may be a conservative estimate.

The deep-breathing engine was tied to an eight-speed automatic that clicked off tight, sweet shifts under hard acceleration but could be oddly clunky with downshifts.

Likewise, I never found the right setting for the electric, variable-ratio steering, which can be tuned through the computer.

Thick and heavy initially, the steering lightened some at speed. But sometimes in the midst of a slight curve, it would suddenly tighten, making the car feel as if it were in some rut I’d rather avoid.

A few of you also might find the ride a tad firm, and it could indeed be harsh over bumps. But most of the time, I thought it just felt really athletic — as you would expect in a $123,000 German sports sedan.

Unlike door-slammers of the past, the RS-7 will tear through corners with as much speed as your nerves and verve will tolerate.

Although the big sedan is not some graceful canyon-carver, it charges into tight curves with a gruff howl, intent on conquering them.

Grip, of course, was really good in the all-wheel-drive Audi. But its body also stayed seriously planted, resolutely refusing to lean.

I’m sure you could induce understeer with high enough speeds, but I wasn’t willing to find out where that limit lived, figuring that just one Audi alloy wheel could cost me a month’s salary.

Inside, my RS-7 looked typically Audi. One of the automaker’s great strengths is its ability to give its vehicles organic grace.

The sleek, nicely proportioned black dashboard wraps around the instrument panel and drops gracefully down to the mid-dash area.